California Pizza Kitchen, known within the food industry as CPK, is a casual dining restaurant chain that specializes in California-style pizza. The restaurant was started in 1985 by attorneys Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax in Beverly Hills, California. The chain is widely known for its innovative and non traditional pizzas, such as the "Original BBQ Chicken Pizza", BLT, Thai Chicken, and Jamaican Jerk Chicken pizzas. They also serve various kinds of pasta, salads, soups, sandwiches and desserts. They have an extensive children's menu for children ages 10 and under which includes a variety of different pizzas, pastas, salad, and chicken.

The chain has over 230 locations in 32 US states and eleven other countries, including 26 California Pizza Kitchen ASAP kiosks designed to serve passengers at airports and shopping malls. The company licensed its name to Kraft Foods to distribute a line of premium frozen pizzas, in 2000.; Nestlé purchased Kraft's pizza lines in 2010.

Carefully sort through the beans, discarding any stones, debris, or discolored beans. Rinse the beans under cold running water. Put them in a large pot and add a cup of cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil continuously for five minutes longer. Remove the pot from the heat and leave the beans to soak in the water for 30 minutes. Drain the beans, discarding the water.

Meanwhile prepare the tomatoes. Bring a pot of water to rapid boil. Set a large bowl full of ice in the counter nearby and fill it with cold water. Use a small sharp knife to cut a small shallow X in the skin of each tomato on the end opposite of the stem. Carefully drop it into the boiling water and leave them there just until the skins wrinkle and loosen, 45 seconds to 1 minute.

Immediately transfer the tomatoes, using a metal skimmer or slotted spoon, to the ice water to chill them. Then let them out and use a small sharp knife to cut out the cores. Starting at the X, use your fingers, with the help of the knife if necessary, to peel off the loosened skin. Got to peel tomatoes crosswise in half to expose their seeds. With a finger, carefully scrape out the seeds and discard them. Cut the tomatoes into 1/2 inch cubes. Set aside.

To make the soup, combine the beans, tomatoes and all the other ingredients. In a soup pot or large saucepan bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to simmer briskly for 1 hour. Ladle into soup bowls and garnished with croutons.